word bank.

update: first I wanted to let you all know that the court process is only in it's beginning stages. my next court date is june 2. at the court date, i will be asking the judge for a psych. evaluation for bug's father. hopefully (seriously, fingers are crossed on this one), the judge will give award me at least that.

on to more exciting news! Bug is beginning to form quite the word bank. I am certain that most children begin to learn to words and phrases at this point, however, it is always exciting when YOUR own child begins learning.

[http://www.childdevelopmentinfo.com/development/language_development.shtml] this link includes a chart as to where your child should be at each age group in terms of language development.

one of the key points in Bug's age group (18 months) is that children have a vocabulary between 5-20 words.

okay here comes proud mommy moment number 1,000 (haha), Bug has a vocabulary of almost 100 words. the latest words to enter into bugs vocabulary: [bubbles, elmo, nemo, bird, toy, bear, night-night, whats that?, who?, dance, chalk, poopie, pound it, high five, come on, car, go, lets go, yes mommy, please, thanks, (sanks), ear, eye, mouth. ]..

she has also learned to "pound it"- bump fists with someone else; the clap song (featured on barney), and "head, shoulders, knees, and toes". she can, and does quite frequently, identify any "boo-boos" that could possibly be on her body. week old scratches still illicit the response "owwww".

keeping this all in perspective, I am certain that there are many children (in fact, when comparing with my friends, most of our children do the same cute things- each of us quickly are shot back into reality that OUR child is not the most intelligent, perfect human being ever- but rather passing through another developmental stage.) that can successfully identify animals, dance, pound it and high five. instead of trying to impress others with the skills and abilities of our own children, we should privately celebrate and rejoice in each milestone!

Court Date.

Sorry for my absence blogging world.

Unfortunately, life has taken a strange turn for me in last few weeks. A turn that has left me feeling upside down and lost.

Three mondays ago, I planned a lunch date with a girlfriend of mine and her little one. Bug and I loaded up in the car and headed to a local sandwich/soup restaurant. As I pulled up to the stop light right before the restaurant, this sick feeling came over me. I felt like I should turn around and go home- but instead I ignored my gut and I forged on.

[a side note to this story is that I have not seen/heard from Bug's dad in 5 months][there is a long history of verbal/emotional abuse, and a few instances of physical abuse- that have landed us in a situation where I cannot speak to him or see him without being in a lot of fear].

Keeping that in mind, Bug and I arrive at the sandwich shop and are greeted by my friend and her baby. We get into line to order, and out of nowhere we are bombarded by Bug's father. He began trying to grab Bug from my arms- she was screaming and clinging to me. The whole exchange ended in the police being called- and a domestic violence battery charge being filed against him.

Fast forward to this past monday- the first day of spring break- and the first of a series of hearings that I will have to attend to determine the custody situation of my daughter.

This first hearing was for the order of protection I currently have. It was to determine whether it should be made permanent. My lawyer was tied up in another previously scheduled hearing- so I was supposed to request a continuance and that was to be the end of it.

Of course, things never go as planned.

Her father's lawyer ended up objecting to the continuance and through a series of strange events (including the judge ordering my lawyer to leave her hearing to come to his court which cannot happen. and did not happen.) the judge ordered me to decide the visitation situation right then.

So without hearing an evidence as to why I wanted to order of protection or anything- the judge quickly began trying to sort out what was best for her father- instead of my daughter.

I plan to continue to blog about my experiences in court- and would love to hear about others experiences as I go through this long journey.